Photo by Samantha Davis: Marshall's Brielle Felton-Krog (left) works to take possession of the ball back against New Ulm in the first half Thursday night in a Big South Conference match.

MARSHALL — Although both teams strung together several good looks on the offensive end, the Marshall girls soccer team fell short to New Ulm Thursday night 3-0 in a Big South Conference matchup. The loss marks three straight for the Tigers.

“I thought we did really well. We pushed back, and they play [scrappy] sometimes,” Marshall junior captain Abby Wing said. “But, we stuck to our game … We played clean.”

Both Marshall and New Ulm looked unified on both ends of the field, with a handful of defensive deflections while continuing to find pockets and attack on the offensive end.

Junior Grace Barie had two of the Eagles’ goals, which came in the first half. Freshman Marlena Kral put the dagger on the win in the 75th minute, with a goal as the game was winding to a close.

Marshall’s Emma Messenbrink and New Ulm’s Elizabeth Dake both had strong performances in the net, finishing with 11 and eight saves, respectively. Both had six saves in the first half.

“She [Messenbrink] did really good,” Marshall junior captain Kathryn Gordon said. “She’s loud back there. She really controls the field, and that’s what we need back there.”

Wing also noted that she sees Messenbrink, a sophomore, get more confident and comfortable with each game.

The difference maker was the Eagles’ ability to keep possession of the ball for a majority of the night, primarily in the second half, limiting the Tigers’ chances of a comeback.

“I think we played with intensity. They [Marshall] were covering Jesalyn [Skoglund, a core offensive player] the whole game. They had one, if not two, people on her. So, we just adjusted and said, ‘Just take yourself out of the play, that opens up the field,’ and it seemed to work,” New Ulm head coach Jonathan Johnson said. “She’s kind of our scoring machine … But, we got it done. The girls played hard, and Marshall is a pretty good team, too. We just did what we had to do, and made it all work.”

The Tigers are in the midst of a five-game homestand, and most recently suffered a 5-0 loss to Sioux Falls Christian on Tuesday after a competitively-defensive first half that saw no goals.

Prior to Thursday, the Eagles fell to New Prague 5-0 on Saturday for their first loss of the year, and tied with St. Peter 3-3 on Tuesday. New Ulm won its first five games of the season consecutively.

From the jump, New Ulm had a shot on goal in the game’s first two minutes with Morgan Zimanski crashing toward the net.

But, Marshall’s Ariana Arevalo did just the same quickly after, fighting for the ball and bringing it up the field before the Eagle’s defensive line stopped her just prior to the attacking third.

“We were just running as fast as we can,” Marshall’s Elsie Deutz said. “[We were] trying to get a chance at every opportunity we had to shoot.”

Deutz, one of Marshall’s primary offensive players, missed a few opening minutes due to a bloody nose, but she was still able to return in the first half.

In the 15th minute, Barie broke through a few Marshall defenders and closed in on the attacking third down the center of the field as she sent the ball into the back of the net to put the Eagles on the board, 1-0.

Barie extended New Ulm’s lead with another goal with 3:59 left in the first half.

After Barie’s first goal, Marshall’s Maddie Hoefer had a good look after dribbling the ball up the right side of the field, but just slightly overshot it past the left goal post.

Both teams continued to attack with a few players racking up shot attempts, not letting up on their aggressive offensive efforts.

“We have some really fast forwards, and I think our defense really kept up with them [New Ulm],” Gordon said. “Especially Brielle [Felton-Krog]. She was just on number seven [Skoglund] … That really helped out.”

Yet, New Ulm began to gain control more often to begin the second half and tended to keep the ball on its scoring half.

The Tigers were able to get through on a few occasions down the field, but the Eagles’ defense was ultimately able to offer security and solidify the win.

“I think stepping to the ball quicker, and we were reading the balls really fast which is good, so they weren’t making all their passes,” Gordon said about what Marshall was trying to control in the second half. “Just trying to make sure we were getting it out quicker and not back in the middle, because that’s vulnerable in the center. Just keeping it on the outsides, and then getting it up into the center again.”

After New Ulm had back-to-back shot attempts, Kral was able to put the ball in the net off following a corner kick with five minutes of gameplay to go.

Marshall (1-7) will look to find the win column when it next hosts St. James Wings United on Saturday at 1 p.m. for the Meet the Tigers match in another Big South Conference matchup.

Following their current homestand, the Tigers will have just two remaining home games left, slated for Sept. 23 against Fairmont and the regular-season finale on Oct. 4 when they host Willmar.

“We are really excited about it. It’s going to be a fun game,” Gordon said. “Some new girls are going to get some chances on the field, which is going to be really fun.”